


If I told you I need you

by TheGirlWhoWaited



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drinking Games, F/M, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Humor, M/M, Not Epilogue Compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 11:36:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14976371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGirlWhoWaited/pseuds/TheGirlWhoWaited
Summary: Everyone is damaged, and most of them are in denial.Will a game of Truth or Dare lighten the mood and reveal what they really feel?





	If I told you I need you

**Author's Note:**

> This is pure self-indulgence because I don't think the trope of truth or dare or drinking games is used enough.  
> This is also a work in progress, and the first ever multi-chapter fic I have ever attempted, so I apologize in advance if updates might be slow.  
> English is not my first language, so if anyone wants to beta this, they'd be more than welcome.  
> Title is from "If I believe you" by The 1975, and the rating might change in later chapters. 
> 
> For now, have fun reading! Comments are majorly appreciated, since this really is new to me. ^^

„Can’t even play chess anymore without them watching you”

Ron muttered under his breath, casting yet another glance over to the corner where the Slytherins sat on some large fluffy sofas, discussing what appeared to be the homework for potions class.

“Honestly Ron, they’re not even fussed about us, can you just make your next move?”

Harry ran his hand through his hair and sighed. His best friend had challenged him to a game of Wizard’s chess, but his concentration was out of the window as soon as Malfoy and his posse had come into the common room.

It had been like this ever since the year started. Upon arriving back at Hogwarts, McGonagall had told them that, since it was only a handful of students who had returned for their eight year, and Hogwarts still suffered from a lack of space after the destructions of the war, they had decided to forego the splitting of the houses into their respective sleeping quarters, and instead have them share a space with the other students in their year.  
Something about “unity and friendship” and “you are all adults who should get along quite fine” was thrown around, but let’s be honest, everyone had made their mind up about these new living arrangements the second she announced it, and while some accepted the change with quiet resignation, or even joy at the prospect of new friends, there were also those who did not care for it one bit. And Ron was one of them.

Harry thought it was ridiculous, to be quite fair. He had talked to Hermione about it, and she agreed, that Ron was taking it a bit too far. The internalized paranoia that Harry had exhibited over the years when it came to Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins, and that his friends had teased him about many a time, seemed to have passed over to his best friend.

“Do you wanna stop playing, maybe?” Harry enquired again, since Ron didn’t show any signs of continuing the game, still looking over his shoulder in what Harry was sure he thought to be a very covert fashion, but honestly, it just looked as if he was checking out Zabini.

“What? No no, of course not. I just wish they’d stop staring at –“ Harry coughed and Ron finally turned back to him. “Mate, the only one who’s staring is you.  Can you just let it go? Everyone’s gonna think you have a crush on Blaise or something if you keep that up.”

That was enough to fully snap Ron back to reality, a look of mild irritation forming on his face. “Dunno why you would say that, I’d never… That’d be so gross, can you imagine?”  
  
Looking at Harry, who raised an eyebrow in question, Ron paled and immediately began to stammer an apology. “Look mate, you know I didn’t mean it like that. You know I don’t – I mean me – I mean, I don’t judge…” Harry waited another second before he let his act down and started laughing. Ron, visibly relieved, huffed in annoyance and nudged Harry’s arm, who in turn nudged him back, the equilibrium of true male friendship restored.

\---

Hermione, who was sat nearby looked up from her book briefly and smiled at the sight of the two of them, laughing together like she hadn’t seen them do for quite some time. It had taken them a while to get back to a state akin to normal after the war. It had left its marks on all of them, as was to be expected. And being at Hogwarts, where the physical evidence of the destruction the battle had left behind was a daily reminder didn’t make it easier in the beginning. But falling back into the old rhythm of classes and studying had helped a lot and now she felt she could finally let her guard down a bit again, at least around her friends. It was still weird, to let yourself feel safe and not jump at the tiniest thing.

Then of course, Harry and Ron had hit another rough patch after the former had broken up with Ginny just before the start of the year. Ron had been relying on the fact that Harry would marry into the Weasley family, and that the four of them would live happily ever after in perfect harmony after having obtained their degrees and settled in comfortable ministry jobs.  
Ginny herself had decided not to go back to Hogwarts but instead focus primarily on her Quidditch career, after having been offered a position as chaser on the junior team of the Holyhead Harpies.

Harry used this as the official reason for their breakup, which allowed them both to keep their personal feelings out of the narrative. The media painted the whole thing as a triumph for the modern witch, who didn’t need no man by her side, and the tabloids were all too happy to see Harry back on the market. He was, after all, the most sought after bachelor of the wizarding world, as stated by Witch Weekly on numerous occasions.

Only his closest friends new the real reason for the end of their relationship, and Harry intended for it to stay that way.

\---

“Anyone going to Hogsmeade this weekend?” Ron asked over dinner. It was Thursday evening, and the overall feeling of exhaustion over the weeks work was clear on everyone’s faces.

“I don’t think so. I have that Potions essay to finish and I promised Pansy to help her study for Transfiguration.” Hermione helped herself to another serving of mashed potatoes.

“Parkinson?!” Ron spluttered, nearly choking on his pumpkin juice.

“Yes, Parkinson. I don’t see any other girl named Pansy taking Transfiguration with us, do you?”

Hermione was completely nonplussed. She knew her boyfriend’s views on their Slytherin classmates, and she also knew that the only way that he’d come round was to let him spew his bullshit for a while before he realized himself how ridiculous it all was. It worked for Harry before, who had now luckily surpassed his Malfoy obsession, at least in one regard. Hermione knew how to handle her boys.

“The weather is supposed to be terrible this weekend. I think I’ll stay in the castle rather than being caught in a thunderstorm” Hannah added. Since she was the only Hufflepuff to have returned for the eighth year, she liked to sit with the Gryffindors during meals.

“Yes, me too. I think. Maybe we could study too or something. If you want, that is.” Neville, who sat opposite Hannah, said.

Everyone exchanged knowing glances at this, having witnessed these sorts of exchanges for weeks now. The two of them kept dancing around each other, completely oblivious as to the other one’s feelings. They’d have to give them a push in the right direction someday.

“Sure Neville, that sounds nice. I did plan to go down to the greenhouse anyway to look after my patch of Snargaluff.” Hannah smiled broadly and they both turned a lovely shade of pink before returning to their food, smiling at their plates. Ah yes, teenage crush miscommunication, an amusing sight to everyone, as long as they weren’t involved in it themselves.

“Harry?” Ron was still hopeful.

“Huh? Ah yeah, Hogsmeade. Uh sure, Saturday maybe?” Harry looked as if he’d just been startled out of some very deep thoughts indeed, though they couldn’t have possibly been about the half eaten pasty on his plate he’d been staring at intently for the past ten minutes, could they?

“Gee, that’s the sort of enthusiasm I’d been hoping for.” Rolling his eyes, Ron turned back to Hermione. “Darling, I heard you mention something about that assignment for Flitwick earlier. You wouldn’t happen to have some… constructive pointers for me, would you?”

“What? Don’t tell me you haven’t finished that yet. Ron, that’s due tomorrow!”

And she pulled out quill and parchment, Potatoes completely forgotten as she once again saved her boyfriend’s lazy ass. Meanwhile Harry’s thoughts wandered off again, while he stared into the air, or maybe at the Slytherin table, or maybe at nothing. Who was to know, really?

\---

Saturday afternoon saw Hogwarts enveloped in grey skies and drenched in rain. Much to Ron’s chagrin, Harry did not feel like braving the weather for the walk to Hogsmeade, which meant that they found themselves once again cooped up in the common room with the rest of the students.

Hermione and Pansy sat at a table near the wall, the former gesturing something to the Slytherin girl, who in turn tried to transfigure the handkerchief in front of her, face set in a grimace that proved utmost concentration. The handkerchief did not show any signs of change.

The Patil sisters, together with Blaise and Seamus, were hunched over the new Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes catalogue that had come out a few days ago, and were discussing whether any of the new editions could be an adequate substitution for the trusted Nosebleed Nougat. The professors had started to get suspicious after a while when the amount of lessons missed because of bleeding noses had risen drastically.

Malfoy sat by himself on a sofa near the window that overlooked the sloping grass and the lake, staring out into the rain. All of a sudden he seemed to shake out of his daydream and got up, turning around and making his way over to the door leading to the dormitories. He did not seem too conscious of where he was stepping, so when he passed Harry and Ron, who were playing chess once again, he accidentally walked into the table, causing one of Ron’s chess pieces to fall.

“Oi, Malfoy, can you watch where you’re going you prick? We don’t need your Slytherin sabotage shit to start all over again!” Ron had gotten up from his chair and raised his voice, stepping in Malfoy’s way.

“Geez, Weasley, it’s a fucking chess piece. Get over yourself, just because Potter here is the almighty saviour of us all, doesn’t mean you Gryffindors can walk all over us as you please” Malfoy snarled.

“Umm, what does that have to do with-“ Harry tried to interject but quickly slunk back into his chair, realizing none of them were listening to him.

“Well, we wouldn’t have needed saving if it weren’t for Death Eater scum like you lot” Ron spat out, a challenging look on his face.

“Ronald Weasley, will you shut up!” Hermione, who had stopped her work with Pansy and had also gotten up, shouted. “You will take that back immediately, this is not what McGonagall wanted to come of this.”

“Well, McGonagall is delusional if she thinks we’re just gonna sit around and be the best of friends all of a sudden. They killed our friends Hermione!”

“I didn’t kill anyone.” Malfoy’s voice was full of anger but he managed to stay collected, his fist clenched at his side. “If you feel so high and mighty, maybe you shouldn’t need your girlfriend to defend you.”

“I don’t need-“

“He’s right Ron. He didn’t kill anyone. And as you can see, Pansy and I are getting along just fine, and so is everyone else. Even Harry got over his weird obsession. You should really be over this by now.” Hermione was clearly annoyed. They had had this discussion one too many times.

“There you have it Weasley. Change your attitude or Granger here might up and leave, just like your stupid little sister jumped and left our mighty hero here. I hear she’s doing a lot better without the baggage, a tempting alternative maybe?” he raised his eyebrows and looked at Hermione, who seemed unsure who to direct her anger at.

Harry had heard enough. “Hey asshole! You leave Ginny and me out of this okay? What happened between us is none of your business, and I have done nothing to offend you. This is between Ron and you.”

“See see, the mighty Potter acknowledges the presence of the inferior Slytherin. You are right, it is hard to offend someone when you’re ignoring them completely. You’re not exactly the shining light of inter-house bonding either, but then again, what would we expect from Gryffindor. No offense to you Granger, but you should have been in Ravenclaw anyway. Avoidance and denial isn’t the way forward, Potter, maybe think about that.”

And with that, Draco pushed past Ron and disappeared behind the door.

Hermione immediately grabbed Ron by the arm and pulled him to the side, undoubtedly to give him a lecture about humility and compassion, like she had done so often already.

“Did he just say to not avoid things and then leave the room in order to avoid further confrontation?” Padma wondered out loud, to which Blaise just gave a loud sigh. “Draco was never one to follow his own advice.”

“Did he just complain about being ignored by Harry?” Neville, who nobody had noticed coming back from the greenhouse, asked Hannah.

“That’s not at all what he said” Harry muttered, letting himself fall into one of the armchairs by the fireplace.

“Yes it was” Seamus replied “and I wonder…” he leaned over to whisper something into Blaise’s ear, who laughed and nodded. The two huddled back together with the girls and began to frantically talk back and forth, obviously planning something.

Harry settled back and grabbed his Quidditch magazine. This had been way too much agitation for a Saturday afternoon. He’d just wait for Ron and Hermione to work out their stuff and then they’d go to dinner, as per usual. He wondered if there’d be Ice cream tonight.

\---

“Listen up everyone!” Seamus stood on a stool in order to grab everyone’s attention. “Today’s events proved that open communication is missing in between certain groups of students in our year.” He gave a pointed look to Ron and Draco. “So, Zabini and I have decided to organize a little game, in order for everyone to get to know each other a bit better and maybe solve some tensions in the room” he added an exaggerated wink in Neville’s direction who looked genuinely confused.

“Who’s up for a round of Truth or Dare?”


End file.
